So MTV has semi-accidentally made Important Television in the 21st century. I did not see that coming.
Just as the original 1992 installment should have been an escapist trifle about cute twentysomethings sharing a New York loft and fighting over who’s not doing dishes, the 2021 show should have been a relatively sedate circle-jerk of fiftysomethings —my generation is looking old as fuck, y’all— congratulating themselves for being pioneers and showing off their various personal achievements.
But now as then, Becky happened.
And this time, it’s just… holy fuck, woman. How the hell can you be the exact same person, twenty-nine years later? How is that even possible, Rebecca?
The last few years of smartphone videos have shown us many an unhinged asshole shoving her entitlement and outrage in the faces of innocent people who had the temerity to exist inconveniently, but what is seldom recorded are the little moments of low-volume shittiness that POC tell us about… those “I took an African dance class and no longer see race” moments. Those “I have black friends” moments. Those someone-can’t-tell-the-difference-between-being-uncomfortable-and-attacked moments.
And that’s exactly what Homecoming gives us. The producers handed Kevin and Becky an opportunity to reflect on their famed 1992 argument about race, and it should have been a breeze. All they had to do was give Kevin a chance to restate his then-radical-now-mainstream ideas about institutional racism and inequity, let Becky nod sagely and say that she wished she’d listened more, and… that’s it. Conversation over. Everyone could have gone back to drinking, passing around baby pictures, and lamenting that Eric was stuck in quarantine after testing positive for COVID just as they started shooting.
Oh but no. Becky couldn’t have that. She had to be That White Chick who instinctively identifies with the worst fucking people, interrupts any conversational tangent that makes her squirm, and yet becomes indignant when she is interrupted. She had to make sure that Her Opinion was registered, and demand that it be validated as generously as her insane ramblings about Hasbro connecting her to the ghost of John Lennon.
Of course, the result is only Important Television if the people who need to see it, do… the original show was a big deal because if you were a teen or twentysomething in the USA and had MTV, you watched MTV. The new show, meanwhile, is a Paramount+ streaming exclusive, so its reach is going to be meager. But if you have a relative from 45 to 55 who is skeptical about “all the racism stuff” and who talks like the NYT but reacts like Fox News, it might be worth gifting them a subscription and luring them into watching it with promises of ‘90s nostalgia —there’s plenty on hand, I promise!— before allowing the Blossoming of a Karen to manifest before their eyes.